Starting as an official in the Nepal's Ministry of Economic Planning in 1963, Mohan Man Saiju has been intimately connected with Nepali development policy over the years. He was a member of the National Planning Commission for almost 13 years, the last five at its helm. In September, he was named Ambassador to the United States. What follow are excerpts from conversations with Promode Bahadur Shrestha in Kathmandu and K.M. Dixit in Washington DC.
HIMAL: If there is one lesson you have learnt during your years of planning development, what is it?
SAIJU: Despite 25 years of effort, we are not yet where we want to be. The lesson I take is this: the people have to be the focus of the process of development. Their participation is the answer. They must be involved in the decision making process. An elitist topdown approach clearly will not work and has not worked. People should be involved not after but before formulating programmes.
HIMAL: But by now we all know that decentralization cannot happen by mere decree.